The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1887-02-02
TRULY GRATIFYING.

Since the accession of S. D. McEncry u
the gubernatorial chair, the good peopl
of Shreveport have witnessed. the compile
ton of the Vicksburg and Shreveport
railroad, which has opened for them al
avenue of trade and travel through TIL,
Northern belt of Parishes the Shreveport
and Houston railroad, with the adjacen
Southwestern Parishes, and the Texas Pa
eifc with the rest of the State and witt
New Orleans. To complete 1.-THE net worl
of railroads that is destined to make
Shreveport one of the great commercial
centres of the Southwest, Jay Gould is al
this moment negotiating with its fortu
nate inhabitants to build another rail
road to Hope, Ark, that will give them
an air line communication with the prin.
cipaliWestern cities,
Can it be that our able confrere of the
Shreveport Times, has at last realized
that the broad, philosophical and ener.
getic policy Of Gov. McEnery'sy adminis.
tration, has contributedsto some degree in
encouraging the construction of these
Ines, which are benefting Shreveport and
its surrounding country in an incalcuIa.
BILE measure? Else, somebody must have
gone over the files of the Times with him,
and .ointed out the fact that only five
years ago, the sole railroad connection
that Shreveport had .withithe outer world
was over the rickerty forty miles of road
to Marshall.
Yet, from no other point has Gov. Nc
Emery been fred at more numerically
than from the rapidly growing city of
Shreveport. And we must give credit to
our esteemed confrere of the Times, that
he has been among the most Jealous can
noneers doing service at the anti-McEnery
battery. Therefore, to what cause or
agency must be attributed thei..following
grudging acknowledgment which appear
ed in the Shreveport Times of the goth
Instant
"There has been much said by friends
and opponents of the State administration
as to the beneficial or i'll effects of its pol
icy ON the prosperity and progress of the
State. Hymns of praise have been chant
ed by strong MeEneryites, while the OPP
position INDUCES in harsh and bitter crit
lelsm OF every line of policy developed by
Gov. McEnery. First and foremost, the
present administration deserves credit for
the prompt and full enforcement of the
laws. There have been lapses here and
there, it is true, but as rule the State
has enjoyed peace and tranquility. There
have been some steals and defalcations,
but they were the exception and not the
rule. The helm of State has been so held
as to give the people an orderly passage
across gulf of four years, and to-day life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness, are
within the reach of all citizens of the
state: Now and then some ogre like Wit
kowski rises to disturb our serenity, but
he is the result Of personalism in our State
government, and may be charged to the
weakness of the Executive in the matter
OF recognizing and rewarding friends
The present State administration has
carefully guarded the material Develop
ment OF the State. Our levees, our rail-
roads, our manufacturing interests, have
received attention; and while the admin
lstratlon has not accomplished any pro-
nounced result, yet the policy of the Exec
ntlve has been such as to encourage the
development of our resources. For these
two things we think the State admins
traton deserves credit; wherein it de-
serves no credit, but merits cOndemna-
tion, we have shown in these columns be-
tore, and we shall doubtless show again."
Our confrere has gone farther in ac-
knowledging the efficiency of Gov. McEn-
ery's administration than it's most ardent
friends could have expected. Hence, they
can well afford to smile over the COM
plants with which it is interIarded.
Hence, all the answer we will make to
them is that we do not recall any defalca-
tions by any of the appointces of Gov. Nc
Emery, and but q remarkably small pro-
portion by officials elected by the people
under. his administration. In fact, we
believe that we could easily prove by the
records in the Auditors office that no 9TH
er administration has made better show
ing in that respect. Much has been said
on several sides of the Witkowski matter,
and good deal more..will doubtless be
said, but opinion will scarcely divide in
so far as the propriety of the Governors
action in doing all in his power to secure
the arrest of the guilty parties in the
West Carroll tragedy. Baton Rouge
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.